Buckle



(No M0001.)

N. H. GEORGE. BUCKLE.

WITNESSES. INVENTOR:

Jfewton/E- ('QOO, @y @Lawa/ff? s attorney.

AN DREW EGRAHAM. PHOTO-NO WASHINGDN, lc.

NEVTON II. GEORGE, OF ROSENDALE, MISSOURI.

BUCKLE.

I SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 555,000, dated February 18, 1896.

Application led Otbel' 471895. Serial N0. 5643625. (N0 DlOdel.)

To all whont t may concern:

Be it known that I, NEWTON H. GEORGE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rosendale, in the county of Andrews and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Buckles; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to buckles.

The object is to provide a buckle which may be readily and securely attached to any part of a harness without the employment of stitchesA or of rivets to hold it in place; furthermore, to provide a buckle in which the tongue or tongues thereof will be so disposed with relation to t-he other parts as not to offer a projection or a recess upon or in which the hairs of a horses tail will catch; furthermore, to provide a buckle having its parts so disposed that that portion of a strap next to the animal will be shielded from friction and consequent wear; furthermore, to provide a buckle in which the end of a strap secured to the tongue will be completely concealed from View and will also be held by another portion of the same strap from Working out of engagement with the tongue; furthermore, to provide a buckle which shall be extremely simple of construction, highly efficient and durable in use, and which may be manufaotured and sold at a nominal figure.

In a buckle characterized by myinvention I employ two side pieces connected at the upper portion of their ends by cross-bars and at their under portions by plates carrying tongues, the Whole being integral. One of the plates-in practice, that one which will be at the forward end of the buckle-lies flush with the lower edges of the side pieces and is provided with a short tongue, in practice but little longer than the thickness of the strap, the other plate being set up between the side pieces a distance equal to or slightly greater `than the thickness of a strap, so that when the strap is passed under this latter plate its under surface will lie liushr with the lower edges of the side pieces and thereby be effectually shielded from friction and consequent wear. This latter plate is also set in some distance from the rear end of the buckle,

I so that the bend of the strap will be wholly within the confines of the buckle.

As a matter of further and specific improvement I provide the plate just referred to with a tongue projecting upward a sufficient distance to pass through two or more thicknesses of leather, by which arrangement I am enabled to secure two straps in place within the buckle by the employment of a single tongue.

Instead of having the front plate, or that which lies flush with the lower edges of the side pieces, terminate at one side of the front end of the buckle, I extend this plate upward toward the front cross-bar, thereby providing a space or slot through which the two straps pass and are held closely assembled, the upturned end formed by the extension of the plate serving also, further, to conceal the attached end of the strap secured to this front plate from View.

Further and more specific details of construction will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings,forming part of this specification, and in which like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts, I have illustrated one form of embodiment of my invention, although it is to be understood that other forms thereof may be employed Without departing from the spirit of the invention, and in the drawings- Figure l is a plan view of the buckle, showing the side pieces, the top connecting-bars arranged at both ends of the upper portions thereof, and the back and front plates located at the lower portions thereof, the tongues 1ocated on these plates, and two straps held in position within the buckle, the latter being indicated by dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line x x, Fig. l, and looking in the direction of the arrow located thereon, showing more clearly the disposition of the top bars and front and back plates, and also the peculiar manner in which the straps are held in place within the buckle.

Referring to the drawings, A designates the buckle consisting of side pieces a a2, top bars a3 a4, respectively connecting the top portions of the ends of the side bars, front and back plates a5 a6, respectively connecting the side pieces at their under end portions, and two tongues a7 and a8 carried by the front and IOO back plates, respectively. The front plate a lies flush with the under edges of the buckle and is extended up ward,preferably in a curve, as shown at a9, to a point near the top bar a,

the space between the side plate and bar forming an opening d10, through which pass the straps B and B2, constituting, in this instance, the straps connecting the crupper and the saddle. The top plate a6 is set upward be tween the side pieces a sniieient distance to enable the strap to be passed around it and not project below the edges of the side pieces, so that the strap will be effectually shielded from wear, as by friction with the animals back; The tongue al carried by the front plate is of a length equal to or greater than the thickness of the strap B, while the tongue as is of sufficient length to extend through the two straps and, by preference, to project slightly above the side pieces.

In using this buckle for connecting the sections of a crupper-strap, the strap B is understood to be connected directly with the erupper and the strap B2 with the saddle. The manner of securing the separate sections of the strap within the buckle is as follows: One end of the strap B is passed over the tongue al, thence around the back plate a and over the tongue a8 and out through the opening d10 to the crupper, by which arrangement it will be seen that the strain on the strap is distributed over three points-namely, the tongue a?, the front edge of the back plate a6, and the tongue (L8-the end of the strap within the buckle being concealed from View by means of the curved extension a9 and held from dis engagement from the tongue by the returnbend of the strap B. The strap B is passed under the top bar a4, over the tongue as, and under the top bar a3, and thence to the saddle. It will be seen at a glance that the parts of the strap are securely held within the buckle against the possibility of accidental disconnection.

Vhile I have used the terms front plate and back plate to distinguish the parts a and a", it is to be understood that these names may be transposed, the terms being chosen simply to designate clearly the direction in which the buckle is to lie.

It is to be understood that the buckle is to be cast of a single piece of metal, such as malleable cast-iron, and that the tongues maybe either integral with the plates carrying them or be secured thereto, as by riveting.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Pat ent, is

l. Abnckle comprising two side pieces con nected at the upper portions of their ends by cross-bars, and, at their under portions, by plates carrying tongues, one of the said plates being arranged at a distance above the lower edges of the side pieces equal to the thickness of a strap, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. Abnckle comprising two side pieces connected at the upper portion of their ends by cross-bars, and, at their under portions, by plates carrying tongues, one of said plates being located flush with the lower edges oi' the side pieces, and the other plate arranged at a distance above the lower edges oi' the side pieces a distance equal to the strap, in combination with two straps, one of which has 'its ends secured to the tongue of the front plate, thence pass around the back plate and over the tongue carried thereby, and then outward between the upper edge of the front plate and the front top bar, and the other strap being passed under the top bars and over the tongue of the back plate, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

NEWTON II. GEORGE. lVitnesses:

J. I. BENNETT, GEo. W. TURNER. 

